Prototype: The Teacher
by Rynsanite Mikhailov
Summary: A fire renders Ryutsuri Kanter orphaned in turbulent New York, until a shady man named Alex Mercer attempts to take him in as a...student. Initially refusing, he eventually agrees, and joins Mercer's horde of Evolved humans. He sets off with his powers, seeking a revenge from a repressed sinkhole from his memory... Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1 - The Crimson Tablet

*****/ For the full version of the story, please visit 2013/06/20/prototype-the-teacher/ ! Enjoy! */

**Chapter 1**

In a sense, I knew that man well, and in another I didn't. For the leader of a virtually non-existent group he was really young - seemed no older than thirty - when some of his subordinates, or as he fancied to call "students" have begun to bear a silver top. He was elusive, his tone often coldly dismissive, and yet, for a very obvious reason, I felt really close to him.

_After all, he saved my life._

School. Lessons. Boring life. Then suddenly, explosions and a blinding fire. The men from Blackwatch streamed in with a rifle in their hands and a helmet on their head, and soon, buried, hidden under a pillar, I became the only one left. Then, he came.

It was impossible to remember anything too detailed with the searing on my skin, except that the wind rushing against my body carried by him coursed with a surprising velocity. Was he...running? It has long become clear that he was, though it definitely did not seem so back then. His speed was incredible enough, and more so when coupled with the stability of his sprint. I fainted shortly.

And woke up in a well-furnished room, the burning that haunted me gone without a trace. My savior walked in - a young, ruffian-like person whose hood submerged his eyes - and silently passed me a glass of water. He watched me as I drank, and when I was done I asked him the question that I should have asked at the start._ "Who...are you?"_

He shrugged. "Your teacher, if you would accept my request later; and if you would not then it is too sad. But for now, Alex. It will do well." He took the cup from me and tossed it carelessly onto a couch. He pressed around on my skin. "No lingering pain, I would expect." I swallowed. "No," I looked away, "and thank you. Alex."

He humphed with a modicum of amusement. "For what?" "For saving me," I replied with the obvious answer, puzzled, "from the fire." He shrugged again. "Pointless. In no time you'll find yourself of greater help to me than I have to you. _Come._" He beckoned me distantly as he ambled out of the room and down a flight of stairs. Down in what appeared to be a living room, a small crowd amassed in a circle with a cushioned stool in the center. He gestured at me to sit on it. "So," he declared, "Ryutsuri Kanter..." I interrupted, "_How did you know my name?_" A graying man slapped his laps and laughed. "Oh, Mercer knows much more than you'll expect, kid." Alex looked at him. "Well, Anton," he stifled a smile, and turned to me. "Ryutsuri," he cleared his throat.

"For it is abrupt for me to leap without a look, I shall explain. It wasn't a fire, you have to know. You have any idea why your school put you in that class? They call it the Enhanced-structure Learning Environment, no?" I shook my head blankly to his first question. He leaned close. "Neither does your school. Nor the newspapers. Not even the cop that munches on donuts 'long the bustling road. It's the work of Blackwatch, and all because you, and your entire class, are carriers..." I cut him off, an enormous question mark manifesting at the back of my mind. "Mr. Mercer, I think..."

"Alex."

"Alex," I repeated obligingly, "I don't get what you're saying." He seemed unfazed. "You read the papers, Ryutsuri? Know why they split this goddamned into red, yellow and green?" I shook my head, and the crowd briefly giggled. Alex sighed a little, and produced a newspaper cut-out. "Fifteen minutes," he pronounced, and with a wave of his hand, the crowd filed upstairs, leaving me to read in peace. I took in the heading of the article that seemed to bark out to me. _"RESPONSE TO PENNSYLVANIA OUTBREAK: CLEANSING IMMINENT?"_

_"With a second and seemingly coincidental release of the BLACKLIGHT virus in the Pennsylvania train station, the GENTEK corporation responsible for the research in the area fears that New York city could face a massive infection as experienced previously in Manhattan Island. The spokesman representing Blackwatch, the elite government military force in support of GENTEK, claims that this outbreak was the doing of Alex Mercer, who had also caused the first release of the virus in Manhattan, similarly in Penn Station._

_Currently Blackwatch has separated the city into 3 portions - the Red, Yellow and Green zone. Residents are strongly discouraged to venture into the Red zone - specifically Manhattan island, where the infections continues to run rampant. To prevent the spread of virus into the residential areas of the Yellow and Green zone, Blackwatch has officially declared martial law in the former, and has set up several monitoring bases in the latter._

_'We simply cannot risk another catastrophic devastation like the last outbreak,' commented Colonel Douglas Rooks of Blackwatch, expressing his concern over the issue. With the aid of viral detectors from GENTEK, Blackwatch has begun scanning and containment operations on public locations, especially schools and offices. Potentially infected residents are brought in for quarantined treatment."_

As my eye passed over the final word of the article Alex miraculously appeared before me, hovering over the article like a hummingbird. "The fire, Ryutsuri," he said darkly, "that was their treatment. _They identified you and your friends as viral carriers months ago, and concentrated you all so that you can be eliminated together._" For a moment I was startled - my parents always told me to trust the government and the army. "They'll always try to protect us, those dunderheads, even when some of us might not like their ways," that's what I was told since I was five. And now, a complete stranger (albeit one who saved me) was telling me otherwise - that Blackwatch, the self-proclaimed "last stand of humanity", were nothing but bloodthirsty primates with guns. I blinked, divided on whether to trust him.

Alex put a hand on my shoulder. "We, everyone that is in this house tonight as well as many more out there, are dedicated to putting a stop to this viciousness, this violence. You have survived and went through one of their atrocities yourself, Ryutsuri. Will you join our cause?"

I was blasted aback by that abrupt request. "You mean you want me to pick up a gun and fight Blackwatch?" I questioned, incredulous, "But that is ridiculous, I have my own li-" "Blackwatch has told your parents that you've died in a fire due to a gas leak," Alex's gaze steeled, "you go out there, you get caught by one of their eyes, and it's two bullets in your chest and one in your head. We're your only way out."

_We're your only way out._

The reality hit me - I was being recruited into some resistance movement by a seemingly sociopathic hoodlum with a couple of quirky-looking strangers. I began to wonder how I even managed to trust him for so long. I coughed hard. "No offense, Mr. Mercer," I stood up and announced into his face, without being corrected this time, "but I can't do this. Look at me, I'm just a 15-year-old, who's got school to go to and a home to stay in. Good luck in...whatever you're doing."

And instantly, I regretted letting those words burst through my lips.

Because for a moment, the shadowed pupils of Alex's eyes flared into a hollow, frightening red. His fists clenched with a taunting click from his knuckles, and his biceps tumesced like a hastily filled balloon. Yet I was unwilling to demolish the facade of bravado that I've rashly built, so I raised my hands defensively, despite something down there telling me that the moment he strikes, I'll become nothing much more than a jar of pulp. My impulses yanked at my eyelids.

A slender hand appeared before me and held Alex back. It was a vernal lady, whose overly fussed-over ponytail hinted of sternness. As she passed her hand down Alex's shoulders and tapped on his chest, the man's gaze softened and his muscles clearly relax. "Alex," her voice was frosty, "remember your mission." The man cringed slightly, taking a step back. The woman continued. "You claim that humanity has lost itself, that you have the power to bring it back together, and yet you act with such selfishness. You're throwing away what you started with and for."

With that, Alex was silenced, for a very, very long while. His eyes pointed low, his face almost entirely shrouded by his hood except for his mouth, where he coldly nipped on his lips. The lady passed a look at me. "But you must understand, Ryutsuri Kanter," she warned, "that should you decide to leave this room and us without your allegiance, I'm afraid we can't do anything for you anymore. You'll be on your own, and there will be the world out there who wants you dead and burnt. Are you sure about this?" I nodded as she barely finished pronouncing her last syllable. Alex sighed, and patted me lightly on my shoulder before indicating briefly towards the door. I felt relief - he was a dangerous man, and even if I had joined him I'll just get myself mangled in a matter of days.

I twisted the knob, greeted by the cool zephyr of a young night. And as I took a step outside, I looked once more at Alex, whose face was still buried in his hood. "Thank you, Alex," I said rigidly, "again, for saving me." He turned round and made for the stairs.

_**TO BE CONTINUED.**_

_*********/ For the full version of the story, please visit 2013/06/20/prototype-the-teacher/ ! Enjoy! */_


	2. Chapter 2 - An Uneasy Freshman

**Chapter 2**

It was already dark, but the streetlights made my road home none too much of a hassle. Alex's house was, thankfully, in a familiar section of the neighborhood – a convenient fact, given that I've completely forgotten to ask for directions from…well, Alex wasn't an option, judging by his mood, but the lady who saved me from him would have done well.

And there it was, my house. I wondered how surprised my family would be when I got…

…

_…home…_

They were crowding around my house – pseudo-humans engulfed in an indigo suit of armor complete with an alien-like mask. Blackwatch. One by one – my parents, my sister – dragged out like rag dolls. The youngest one, my sister, and in my opinion the idiot, began to bawl.

_"You did this to big brother too, didn't you? And now you're doing this to us. What have we done? We are good, law-abiding citizens, we've-"_

BAM. Screams.

BAM. Feminine scream.

BAM. _Nothingness._

A muffled thud, and the last one of them – my mother – fell, her forehead replaced by a blatant, spewing hole. One of the Blackwatch troopers kicked lightly at her motionless body. "If Checkmate asks, resisting arrest and disrupting public order," he joked sickly, inspiring an eruption of guffawing from his comrades.

_"They'll always try to protect us, those dunderheads, even when some of us might not like their ways."_

Those words decided to come to me at this unfortunate occasion – are they mocking something?

Suddenly I forgot the art of walking, and my feet danced numbly backwards…_into a trash can._ Clang.

The men paused and spun round, an electric blue pulse of light flashing from their mask where the right eye would be. "There, MIA'd tango, get him," ordered one who appeared to be the leader. _Crap._ I ran – or rather I tried to – and before I could launch myself a single step away from them a surging force swept at me from behind, and my chest hit the floor, the metallic knees of a soldier immobilizing me completely. Footsteps around me hastened then ceased, and the leader of the group delivered a brutal kick to the side of my stomach. "Radio in for a chopper," he barked, "get this one to GENTEK and see if there's a match." Another trooper puffed mockingly, and dabbed the back of my skull with the barrel of his gun. "Looks like him alright, sarge," he jested, "I'd put a round in right now." I winced with that remark.

_So this is how I die…?_

A sickening splatter, and the weight on me was instantly gone. A flurry of masculine squalls, and as I forced my head around, every one of those burly gunmen that previously surrounded me decayed into heaps of blood and flesh, some split from the torso up. I felt nauseous, until a pair trousered legs planted themselves before my eyes. _Alex._

But something's wrong – odd, unusual. His entire arm was a lumpy, bloated black, and what used to be his fingers were ghastily elongated, their tips razor sharp.

_Like…claws._

Another team of soldiers took aim from afar, but before they could attack, a silhouette leaped through the window of a shop, its arms resembling bulky scimitars; and with shrewd slashes, those men met a similar, gory end. Alex spoke none, only pointing at me for a moment, cuing for the other figure to leap towards us with amazing speed and dexterity. It was the woman who prevented me from being pounded by Alex. Somehow she could read the man's fuzzy sign language, and with a sweep of her arms I was over her shoulder, feeling the coursing wind once more as she sprinted away like lightning; her stamina and velocity baffled me until much later. And as we made off, I could see it – incredible it was – with his pseudo-claws, Alex furiously ripped at the soldiers, tearing one apart with each swipe, and the bullets ejected from the men's guns seemed only to succeed at creating glaring sparks on Alex's skin.

_It was incredible, and more importantly, Alex was right._

_Something was going wrong._

Sabrina – as the lady called herself – polished at my bruises after she put me down in the same house I've curtly exited less than an hour ago. The other half a dozen people who congregated in the room before sat quietly on the armchairs, until Sabrina finished up with my wounds, and Alex coincidentally marched in, his hands back to normal. The latter man stood in front of me, his expression frigid as ever. "You can go back out there again, kid," he commented hollowly, "I'm not expecting anything here."

Perhaps it was the anger of losing my family – no, that was minor, somehow; it must have been the wave of emotions I've got when I thought that out there, Blackwatch was doing this to so many other innocent civilians; and more importantly, Alex was right – the absurd stories of conspiracy he showed me – they're all true. This time, without a thought, I blurted it out.

_"Alex, I'm joining you."_

Expectedly, his face was still stiff as steel. "Now that's a surprise," he said, his look showing nothing of that, "you might want to say it again, _Ryutsuri._" The adrenalin persisted, and I stood up, looking right into Alex's beady eyes I repeated it. "I want to join you, Alex." He sniffed. _"Very well."_ His hand swelled suddenly; an army of dark, thread-like entities wormed out of his pores, engulfing his limb with the same glossy black I've seen previously on the streets. The threads branched up his fingers, narrowing them, stretching them until they became the very claws he had used to slay the Blackwatch men. "This might hurt," he smirked, brandishing his claws, and before I could react the sharp ends of his strange weapon were buried in my chest. _Pain._

Yet, it wasn't that bad – not as much as one would expect for a stab wound in the heart. But there was something more, like a river of energy coursing into me, its sheer amount rendering my legs jelly. I blenched on my knees, hissing to those queer, conflicting sensations, my eyes endeavoring to make sense of what might be happening. "_From now on,_" his voice rang faintly in my ear over the agonizing sea in my mind, "_I am your teacher, Ryutsuri Kanter._"


	3. Chapter 3 - First Day in School

**Chapter 3**

I jolted myself awake, my hands instinctively fumbling at where Alex plunged his claws into. Nothing. Smooth, undented skin. Not even a scar. Even my shirt wasn't punctured. _Was all of that a dream?_ No, it wasn't – I'm not lazing in my sky blue bed, in my yellow-wallpapered room. It was the room that Alex put me in after he got me out from the fire. And the shirt I'm wearing – it was the exact one I remembered from the previous night. I gulped.

The door creaked open, and Sabrina danced in lightly. "You're awake," she stated the obvious, "get up, Alex's waiting." I kept my cool, and meekly made my bed. "I guess I should get changed…" I mumbled, to which Sabrina simply chuckled. "You can't if you'd try," she said, "after Alex did his…thing to you your body fused with your clothes." Smiling, she left me on my own and turned out of the room, and before I could even ask her what that "thing" was, the door behind her was shut.

A little something inside me told me that I regretted agreeing to Alex's proposal. Perhaps I was impulsive, yes, uninformed? Very. But now that I reflect upon it, I don't, I didn't really give a crap about my family; they were just a catalyst that made me believe what Alex said – those atrocities that Blackwatch were doing, what they have done to almost everyone I've ever known. I resigned myself. After all, since I said the word, I've got to keep it. Swiping my wiry hair aside, I paced down the stairs to the living room, where Alex Mercer waited with his hood up, his arms crossed with ominous strictness.

_This better be good._

He beckoned for Sabrina to come, his gaze will burning onto me even though his eyes were shaded by his clothing, "Come," he ordered. I looked at Sabrina, who immediately read my thoughts. "Training, of course," she smiled, anticipating my reply. "But what about breakfast?" I garbled, then realizing abruptly how childish I sounded. This time, it was Alex who answered. "_Oh, there'll be eating during the training,_" he shrugged, "if only new recruits could say anything else." He opened the door. "So, you coming?"

I did, to a backyard like any other. Alex lifted a huge stainless steel slab effortlessly, and raised it before his chest. "Punch it, Ryutsuri," he said coolly. _Wha-?_ "Punch it," he repeated, his tone unchanging. "You're kidding me, aren't you," I mumbled incoherently, "that's going to hur-" He hushed me. "Same response from every newbie," he criticised, "fine, then use as much strength without…_hurting_. Now."

Noticing my apparent lack of a choice, I calibrated and planned my strength, delivering it to the slab via my fist in the (hopefully) least painful way possible, albeit the little dreadful voice deep in me warning of the imminent…

_…no pain…_

It didn't. There was no catastrophic ache buried in my knuckles, no sensation of each of my finger bones shattering from the impact. It felt like a blow on a bolster. And more incredibly, as my eye apprehensively shifted up, I saw. _The slab was dented._

My chest went heavy, as I ogled at my hands, then at the dented slab, at my hands, then back at the slab again. Reflexively I tried to twist my neck to cast a questioning look at Alex, but that movement only created clumsy creaks between my ears. He tapped me on my neck, soothing me a little. _"Did it hurt?"_

"I thought not," he replied to his own question before I could even react, "shame nobody knows that at the start. Now that you know, punch it again. Make it hurt." With a light convolution of his wrist, my head spun back so that the steel block with a caved-in center filled my pupils once more.

_I have to…do it again?_

_This time…harder?_

_No matter, it won't hurt anyway…_

I think I yelled, I was deaf to it, but Sabrina told me I almost busted her eardrums. Still it bore no pain, and with my relatively unrestrained swing, the block…snapped._ Into two._ Unbelievable! I felt my arms tremble, as my neck swung itself upwards driven by an inexplicable force of euphoria. _With this power, I could rule the world._

I continued with that hysteria until Alex's apathetic applause rang into my ear, humiliating me a little. He summoned me with his finger, and touched my shoulder with a chilling indifference, before dragging out something – or more accurately someone – with his other hand. A Blackwatch soldier. Or so to speak, for he was unarmed, his armor reduced to what seemed like metallic rags, and his expression reflecting none of an elite government unit. He looked large though, albeit the obvious reason that Alex was picking him up by the back of his undershirt. His arms were dancing in an undisciplined flail, and I could hear his teeth chatter as squeaky syllables were discharged from his mouth. "_L-look, Mr. Mercer, we can talk, I'll smoke the Gentek head for you, I can help…pay…boy, you there, you with him? Help-_" Alex's subsequent words overwhelmed his hasty mumblings, "So, Ryutsuri, you were worrying about breakfast? Here, eat." I forced a laugh at his apparent joke, whose punchline I failed to get; but of course I wouldn't get it, because it never was a joke. His expression cold, Alex shoved the soldier towards me, until he was almost lip to lip with me. "_Eat_."

_No way, this must be a joke._ I gaped at the struggling body, my vision feeling blank. Alex sighed. "Always, gutless newbies, never ever accustomed to progress," he grunted, gripping my wrist, "perhaps I shall roll the red carpet for you." And with a jerk, my palm was against the soldier's skin, and emerging from my fingers were the same black threads that formed Alex's claws earlier. However, this time, instead of coagulating on my arm, they began to dig their way into the Blackwatch trooper's skin, resulting in a sharp increment in the volume of his wailing. With the path of the black "worms" into his body I was greeted by a feeling similar to that I've got when Alex poked me with his claw, only a tad less intense and lacking much of the element of surprise. In no time the body before me had changed, degenerated, and was no longer recognizable as that of a human, but merely a black, fuzzy clump of viscous matter, which fought its way smoothly towards me, before forcibly dissolving into my body. As the last of it entered me, I felt awake, metaphorically, with a pumping energy in me that seemed to goad a hyperactive enthusiasm. I felt Alex smile, dimly though.

"Now look," he ordered, and a black swarm enveloped him, dispersing eventually only to reveal a U.S. Marine rooted at where Alex previously was. The Marine shrugged, and was again engulfed by darkness which replaced him with the hooded Alex Mercer. "You try. Visualize."

Clueless – that was all I thought. But still I shut my eyes, so that Alex would at least believe that I was trying something. I tried to piece together the picture of the struggling soldier I've just…eaten, to my disgust. After all that was what he instructed me to do. To visualize, and hope fervently for the apparition of a strange feeling that is supposed to transform me into one of those troopers.

_Nothing._

I sighed and opened my eyes – crap – for the only thing I could possibly expect was a cold chiding from Al- _My hands._ No longer naked as before, they were now clad in an indigo layer of nylon and Kevlar that stretched all the way up my arms, no, they extended across my whole body. _Did I just…_ I tapped on my head and my neck. _Yes, I did!_ I just took the form of a Blackwatch trooper – I even feel taller and my muscles had weighed down like lead. Now I can sneak into the lairs of those inhuman bastards unseen, and then, and then… And then Alex knocked on my forehead, ordering me to switch back to my normal form, which I reluctantly did.

"Remember this," he reminded, "this technique can be useful in many ways. Can get your ass into somewhere you aren't supposed to be in, and when you have tanks and choppers after you this disguise can render you…non-existent. Practise." And gleefully I did, over and over, allowing the wave of black turn me into my enemy, then briefly throw punches around, as if those I swore to defeat are cavorting right in my view, before spinning back to myself and repeating the process. It wasn't long before the lecherous side of me began to say something. I slowed down, and recalled the face of the beautiful girl that used to sit in the front row in class; oh if only I could take her form, her body, how would I play with it?

I opened my eyes. _Eh?_ My body was still my masculine self, nothing changed. Apparently peeked into me, given by his disported smirk. "Fool," he scolded, "you'd have to consume someone to be someone, deviant dimwit, and I most certainly didn't give you the powers of the Blacklight virus for you to sashay around in a pantyhose."_ Wait. The powers of what?_ "The _Blacklight_ virus," Alex repeated, slurring on that word, "why, seem strange to you? Oh, of course, you didn't turn into zombies like what it did to the other dumb-shits, what, you think those wires coming from your skin are your last nights' dinner?"

I remember, the newspaper article Alex showed me the previous night, about some GENTEK corporation and some virus in Manhattan. So that thing's…

_…inside me?_

"But I'm not a zombie," I blurted out the most blatant. "Indeed," Alex was calm. "That's what sets you apart from the rest – your genes – they're suitable as the virus' habitat, for it to grow, fester, and change you into a stronger being. And when this world is cleansed by us, you and I and everybody for our cause will be the ones surviving. Though for you that's provided you don't get yourself killed before that. Now go practise your shape-shifting." He backed away and leaned on the wall as he watched me routinely transform to and fro, from a mighty-looking Blackwatch warrior to plain old Ryutsuri Kanter, until the process was more or less embedded into habit. For some reason Alex could tell – shape-shifting was quick even for first-timers, and practice only made the visualization a little more fluid. He applauded again, this time with a streak of enthusiasm. He beckoned for me, and as I stood under his nose he squeezed on my shoulder, stinging a little. "Evolution for Dummies," he jested coldly, "Epilogue. Let's see what kind of weapon you're befitting of."

Numbness surged, darkness, then, something familiar. _Images…_


	4. Chapter 4 - Le Souvenir Réprimé

**Chapter 4**

So familiar, those images, that one, especially from a day so very young. Did Alex just tap into my memories? _Wait, no, not that one…_

She was holding my hand, her cheek a hair away from mine. "_Ne, Ryuu-chan, if monsters want to eat me, will you fight for me?_" I was affirmative – it seemed obvious the answer to her loaded question – so I would, without batting an eye; well, at least that was what I told her. She seemed glad. Well, duh, that's a sure-fire way to please any girl, at least any girl with a tiny height of a hundred and fifty, with next to nothing 'tween her skin and bones. _"Of course, Yuna-chan. I'm going to bring out a long, long sword, like a knight, and cut through anybody who wants to harm you. Promise."_

That promise to her, I fulfilled part of it a couple of years later. In a certain humorous perspective, I did it, I didn't bat an eyelid, alright. But I didn't not bat an eyelid while fighting for her – I didn't bat an eye while I watched helplessly as it lunged forth and bit her head off. It was ugly, with rotting necrosis running just about everywhere on its skin, and pus dripping viscously out of its eyes. It was fast too, and very, very strong. Was that a Blacklight zombie? Probably was. Now I know that feeling of deja-vu when I was reading Mercer's article – those decaying figures, they were the very ones that murdered her.

But what could I have done? I had nothing of a fighter, hell, I hadn't even a stick to beat it with. It slurped vulgarly, scratched, gripped at her body lewdly, tearing off chunks of her flesh with its plaque-infested teeth. I could only watch, and slowly back away. If the Marines didn't get to me in time I would have been lunch too.

Heck it, now I wish it'd taken me as well.


	5. Chapter 5 - Il Principe

**Chapter 5**

Alex was before me, his grasp on my shoulder gone. "Impressive," he commented, and stepped back._ Oh god no, tell me he didn't just see…_

"Visualize, Ryutsuri," he said again, that phrase that had almost become trite, "See yourself fighting, and the weapon'll come." Probably, I was still reeling from that awful memory, and imagining myself cutting through hordes of zombies for pretty Harumae Yuna was more than easy to achieve. It was just like shape-shifting, but this time, as I opened my eyes, my right arm had become a (still) sickening lumpy black, with a gleaming, narrow rapier-like extension replacing my fingers, connected to my wrists by a net of fiery orange veins. It was incredibly long, when raised up, it could almost be as tall as myself. But its length wasn't matched by its weight; in my used-to-be-hands they felt no heavier than styrofoam. Wow.

"You're welcome," said Alex, his voice surprisingly high, "and that concludes your training. You'll be sent to the Red Zone at the next dawn." I coughed. _What, so that's all? And I'm just going to be sent for an assignment in…_ "Manhattan Island," reminded Alex, as he stared at far away, "where everything began. You can't expect to make humanity evolve, or for your case, achieving revenge for a dead woman, just by practising in the backyard. But first." He whistled, and a young man and a seemingly younger lady marched out. _Wait, I've seen them before._

"Nikolai, Yuki!"

Alex nodded callously. "Yes, yes Ryutsuri you might know them from your school classes. And no Mr. Kanter you aren't the only ones who survived the fire. This lady and gentleman here have been under me for quite a while." He waved, and the duo's arms morphed, Nikolai's was a gigantic shield, while Yuki's was a flexible and extendable pseudo-whip appendage tipped by a spike not unlike a gigantic version of a scorpion's. Brandishing their weapons, they grinned. "These two fellows," Alex continued, "will accompany you for your mission tomorrow which will be briefed by me then, and increase your survivability by that tiny little bit." He pointed at the second storey. "You all go get some rest," he muttered, "by the way this isn't my house. Sabrina here, Ms Galloway has kindly let you and me her residence. I'm going back to the Red Zone now. Constantly strengthen yourself so that you can fight for the memory of…you know, if that motivates you." He finished with a dab on the side of his brains. _So he did see it._ Bidding us bye, he leaped off, sprinting into the darkness.

My eyes aren't used to that speed yet.

"So," Nikolai broke the ice with a hint of senior-like arrogance, "go get some sleep, tiger. Long day for you tomorrow."

I didn't want to; I felt like practising with my weapon for a while more, so I drew it (a rapier, I called it) out, giving it a couple of swings, each of them evoking a mysterious blast of adrenalin that rocked my mind hard. For how long I practised, I forgot, but when I stopped Yuki still stood distantly, watching me as I retreated towards the house.

_"Um, Ryutsuri."_

She appeared behind me without much of a sound, her voice still meek despite the fact that she had successfully endured Alex's snide remarks for god-knows-how-long. "_Go get some rest, okay?_" she mumbled, her eyes quite low, _"Don't get too tired."_

I nodded. "Yuki-san, what do you think about Alex?" that burning question just exploded from its confinements. I can't be the only one here who finds Alex a prick. The reply I got was a grip on the arms, whose nails dug harshly into my skin. "_Please, please understand, Ryutsuri, there's a reason why Alex's like that,_" she whimpered, and before I could ask that question, she added, _"just, please bear with him a little, okay?"_

Baffled I was, definitely, but for a strange reason I was able to empathize with her words. Well, what can I say; Alex speaks sharply, but he speaks with value. He seemed keen to overthrow Blackwatch's reign and stop the infection, and so was I. If I were him I would have been impatient as well, I guess. With my silent signal of understanding, her hand left, and I was left to pace alone up to my bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6 - Pop Quiz

**Chapter 6**

We left early for Manhattan, Nikolai, Yuki, Alex, me, all transformed as soldiers in a military helicopter that Alex somehow got to possess. It was the only way to get around the city at a time like this, Alex told me, the bridges that connected the island from the mainland were all demolished by the military in their desperate efforts to contain the infection that ran rampant throughout the entire area.

Flying along the detritus of the metropolis was none too pleasant an experience. What used to be towers of commerce and office were raped mercilessly by thick, branch-like tendrils of god-knows-what that coursed freely along the bodies of the structures that have not yet crumbled to the ground. Down on the streets, minuscule pellets dashed about rabidly, greeted hostilely by the chatter and glare of gunfire and cannons. Even the sky was not spared – a bloody red – populated by what disturbingly appeared to be swarms of crows. And Alex lives here. Incredible.

We landed on a little apartment flat – crashed, actually, given Alex's skill – and we transformed back to our selves, weapons drawn. Alex shrugged, and pointed towards a protruding building – apparently fortified – that sat a few blocks away from our position. "Ryutsuri, your task is to clear out that military base of all personnel," Alex yelled over the noise as he donned his hood, "For starters like you, boy. Nikolai, Yuki, try to bring him back alive." Patting my shoulder, he leaped away, bounding to afar. "Wait," I called out, with full knowledge of its futility, "are you _leaving_ us?"

Nikolai tugged me by the collar. "He's doing his part too. He'll take down the incoming batch of Marine reinforcements, a whole lot more that what we're doing away with today. Get moving." Grabbing Yuki's arm, he took a backwards jump…

_…down the building._

Slowly I stretched my neck until I could barely see the base of the apartment, half-expecting to witness a sick splattered pool of flesh and blood. But no. Nikolai and Yuki were waiting for me, arms akimbo, and very much unscathed. He looked up to me questioningly, almost the very way one would when saying, _why's your soiled undies in my bathroom?_

Oh, right, nothing goes normal here. Emboldened I stepped back, and dashed towards the edge of the concrete and took off, the exhilaration of the fall pumping within me. _Splat._

My landing was far from elegant, with my face hitting the ground first. But as with when stabbed by Alex's claw, there was almost negligible pain, only a dull tactile punch from the impact. No bones broken, as a side note. Yuki dug her fingers into my arm again, and helped me up, and after a brief wave to Nikolai, we were off.

We ran, and ran, but somehow the only thing eluding me was fatigue. Everything was a blur – buildings, abandoned cars, deranged infected – yet our legs carried us with that speed and none of any faltering. I remembered the time when Alex carried me to the house from the fire; that velocity, it was like a dream come true. In no time the old military block was before us. Nikolai took the lead, smashing with his shield an unaware Blackwatch soldier into the wall, on which a web of cracks emerged from the hit. Yuki – the more graceful one – jumped high and a flick of her wrists lengthened her whip abruptly until it punctured the body of an airborne helicopter; and with another agile flick, the spiraling aircraft was slammed violently onto the road, the explosion resulting from it enveloping a few slower soldiers and infected.

I was the only one left, the sitting duck, and naturally the target of nearby troopers. Yelping, they opened up, raining me with ammunition, which I attempted to shield myself from with my arm. The rounds hit my body, chest, shoulders nonetheless, but produced little else other than a tickling sensation that playfully ran along my skin. Crying out, I lashed out with my rapier, cutting through anybody that had the sense to stand about me. Sometimes I hit, sometimes I didn't; but when I did the blade of my weapon sliced my enemies cleanly into two – some gorily through the hip – and amazed me with my apparent apathy to slaughtering fellow humans, especially for a first-timer. Subsequently the area around the base was silent of the reign of Blackwatch, save for a big one…

…a tank. Hulking, much more than what I'd expect from action movies. The barrel of its cannon flashed, and a sharp punch in my hip brought me gliding down the road like tumbleweed. As I stood up the machine gun mounted upon the body of the tank began to fire, by the time of which the bullet holes on my body had already began to ache. I dragged myself on, though my pain-stricken movement was nowhere fast enough to evade the wrath of the machine gun which continued to harass me with ammo. _The pain's building…my legs soft…_

_"Ryutsuri!"_

Nikolai's bulky build landed before me just as the tank's main cannon fired once more. The shell hit the surface of his shield, and was reflected perfectly back towards where it came from. With a rocking burst the barrel of the cannon was reduced to a dangling drape of metal. The soldier manning the machine gun raised his arm in defence, but uselessly, as he was decapitated by a swift wave of black, the silhouette of Yuki's whip. The girl did a backflip in the air, and landed beside me on her toe-tips. Her gentle push on my back reminded me of the tank's defenseless state, and for an instant I forgot about the aching pangs that plagued my body. Throwing my blade back, I dashed towards the smoking tank, and with a slash the moving tank was split smoothly apart, before detonating into a magnificent display of pyrotechnics.

The adrenalin waned from me, and my legs failed.

Silence.

For how long, I didn't remember, but for that long I just sat relaxed as I watched the smoldering remains of the military vehicles, and the body parts of dead soldiers that littered themselves slovenly across the red-spotted floor. My legs felt void, until the Nikolai and Yuki's (respectively) firm and _violently-digging-into-flesh_ hands brought me back up to my feet. "Get up, sleepy-ass," chided Nikolai, before his gaze soothed, "you did awesome today. Welcome, brother." He stuck out his hand, surprising me, given his usual attitude even back in school, that tone that sounded vaguely like Alex. I took the hand and shook it with rote, though the cavern deep down there was forlornly exhausted.

Alex seemed a lot less frigid that day – a little jubilant, even – as he met us at the house. I knew it wasn't for our success in the mission; after all it was a training task for me, and its accomplishment meant presumably nothing to fulfilling Alex's goal. Instead it was reminiscent of the day I was…recruited to the cause; the only other time I saw Alex smile.

"We have a new student," he proclaimed brightly, confirming my guess, "he's in a little tight corner after I got him to join us, huh, before I did he even tried to kill me. Right now he's holed up in a GENTEK lab, but I trust that it's donkey for those I teach." He flung his hood back, revealing his evidently ex-curly hair that was forced down heavily by hair-gel, his dark blue pupils for once free from being a depressing blank. He seemed proud, strangely. "He used to be a Marine – one of those I did away with today – but now he's part-"

He was interrupted by the boisterous arrival of Sabrina Galloway, as well as Anton Koenig, the aging man that was present the first time I was rescued by Alex. "For real, Alex m'dear?" chirped Sabrina, "Who is he? I wonder…" "You'd call him James," came the reply, "Ex-Sergeant James Heller. With him I think we'll have enough strength to combat the entire forces of Blackwatch and the U.S. Military that currently stands in our way. Then we'll spread our cause to the Yellow and Green zones, then further out…" From my perspective Alex looked as if he might swoon, and the frosty statue of him that he erected within my mind had began to falter. Sabrina, Anton, Nikolai, Yuki, everyone were cheering, and so was I, but only mechanically. For that instant, somehow I became the cold, detached one. Something's bugging me, but what?

_What in me is doubting this cause?_


	7. Chapter 7 - Field Trip to a Science Lab

**Chapter 7**

That question was bestowed a resolution soon enough. Alex was back to his cold self the next day as he sent us on our daily _"patrols_" in the Red Zone, and I took the chance during the ride to ask him.

"Since the military's fighting the infection, shouldn't we try to work with them to eliminate the virus first, then focus on defeating Blackwatch?"

Alex stopped the helicopter, letting it hover still in mid-air. "Depends, Ryutsuri. What do you hope to achieve in this fight?" he answered with yet another question, his eyes fixed ahead of him.

I was stumped; suddenly that became murky for me. After all I agreed to join this cause on a moment of impulse – what do I really fight for anyway? I started off determined to overthrow Blackwatch, to pay them back for incinerating my friends and gunning down my family. But the slightest of soul-searching turned out negative – that wasn't what I wanted – in fact I'm not even sure that I want to defeat this organization that's shrewdly holding off zombies from entering the city as we spake. Rather my goal had deviated – that memory of _her_ that Alex touched, that I had been so sure that I repressed entirely, maybe that was it.

I lowered my gaze to the feral spots down on the ground, cavorting around, tearing apart anything not quick enough to shoot them down. To me, every single one of them down there, _they were murderers. Felons. And I wanted to cut them down, without fail, those that did her harm, as I had promised._

_I think I've got an answer._

"Alex, I want to end the infection, and eradicate the virus and those it manipulated from the face of America."

He turned around; even in his soldier form his gaze still burnt right through my soul. "Really? That's what you want, I take?" he seemed indifferent, but those words probably meant that I said something wrong, though I had no idea what it was. "Yes, that's what I want to achieve by fighting," I took the risk, and reiterated my point. Alex returned his gaze to the throttle, and continued to flight. He remained silent for the entire journey.

When we arrived he instructed Nikolai and Yuki to proceed to the patrols, but me to stay. He fell quiet once more as he flew me out of Manhattan and into the blue sky, that unvisited area that he claimed to be the Yellow Zone. We entered the airspace of a building labeled to be a GENTEK Corp. Research area, outside which we landed. "Disguise up," he reminded, and gestured for me to exit the chopper with him. All was calm, and Alex was greeted with a series of blind, rote salutations.

"Good day, Major Burns, how goes the search?" came a tall Blackwatch trooper guarding the door. "Fruitless, son. Alex Mercer continues to evade all armed capture teams. Good day to you as well," Alex replied formally, bidding for the guard to let us enter, which he promptly did.

The interior of the laboratory was more spacious than I imagined, its ceiling towering emptily over us. Scientists in haz-mat suits and gas masks roamed the area, occupying themselves with occult-looking vials and computer terminals that were arranged neatly around the perimeter of the lab. Blackwatch and Marine soldiers patrolled the rooms, taunting the struggling specimens that were packed linearly inside cages…wait, those specimens…

_…are those people?_

Trepidation sent me wandering off to one of those confinements, and Alex obligingly followed behind me. _Oh, god, they were. People, civilians, human beings in casual clothes that were dotted with blood._ They were shouting, some muffledly, some at me as I closed in towards them.

_"You son of a bitch, let me go, I ain't no zombie…"_  
_"Please, let us go home, my children need me…"_  
_"This must be a mistake!"_

Before I could break down and do something stupid the P.A. System fired away. "Attention transport unit B-Foxtrot-Bravo, please convey specimen set #61C to Introduction Laboratory E." The cage before me was lifted slightly, with the crabby creaking of the crane, inducing a panicked protest from the people in the cage._ "No, no, we aren't infected, I swear, see, we're not bleeding, we're not… Look, we're talking, zombies don't talk, they can't…"_ I never heard the full of his ranting; the confinement was lowered into a thickly armored room with a gigantic glass pane, through which I saw that the men and women trapped within continued to bang desperately on the grates, their lips trembling with their ejection of muted screams. With the abrupt flow of gas, a crate of thick black matter not unlike that which composed my abilities was unloaded onto the civilians, and as it dissipated the people were no more – boils, eruptions rampant on their face and arms, their jaws enlarged, huge fangs replacing human teeth. What used to be dire slamming on the cage's body degenerated into clumsy, animalistic scratching and knocking.

"Attention Introduction Unit, introduce specimen set #61C to specimen set #105B."

The cage was lifted once more and carried to another room, where another group of unscathed civilians waited with clearly-shown dread. The two cages sprung open, and the previous group of people that have been transformed into those…monsters began to lunge at the civilians like feral predators. The screaming gradually subsided, as each and every one of those people had their heads ripped off, their limbs bitten away, and their tongues yanked cleanly off their sockets. _Oh god…_

_It was just like the last time, watching, as she was vulgarly devoured by the infected, it's happening again…_

_…and this time, Blackwatch's doing it?_

Alex touched my shoulder. "You know why you can't fight the virus with the military?" he mourned, "Because they're not fighting it at all. To them, the Blacklight virus was never a foe to slay. It was sadly a runaway weapon, a beast to be tamed and eventually unleashed onto the unfortunate enemies of the U.S.A."

I was tempted, so enticed to produce my weapon and mince every one of these heartless bitches that dwelt in this cesspit, but Alex was firm against that. "Humanity is a failure to begin with, Ryutsuri, yes," he pacified, "but you will have ample chance to kill all of them, not now, though." I didn't understand, and he knew that. But in time I will, as promised by Alex. In time.

_"Oh, yeah, Alex, I've overheard that soldier saying things about capturing you. Aren't our operations all secret?"_

_"I've made mistakes, Ryutsuri."_


	8. Chapter 8 - The Delinquent from Hell

**Chapter 8**

No matter what kind of sociopathic, supercilious person he projected himself to be, the little field trip to the GENTEK lab convinced me that at the very least that bastard was human. Came along with compassion, hated the right things. But that event seemed to arouse something in him – in the following days he degenerated into even darker taciturnity – and although he cut it with the snideness, I could tell that whatever the cause, Alex Mercer was feeling…lorn.

He disappeared soon after, never came back. Sabrina and Anton said they knew the reason, but didn't tell; Nikolai and Yuki were just as clueless as me, and the three of us were told only not to fret and proceed with our daily duties in Manhattan.

Speaking of clueless, we've haven't even got to meet the new member yet. What's him name again? James? Yeah, James Heller, interesting name. Alex never brought him to us, never did a legit…injection on him, nothing. Perhaps Alex was settling something with him. James was quite a key addition to Alex and us, and was seemed to be quite a defining factor to our cause. Did he get into trouble with Alex? Did he freak out to Alex's taunts? Well, no matter, Alex was easily the strongest fighter here, and I doubt a fresh newbie'd be much of an obstacle to him, and the thought of Alex getting tangled up out there truly invoked a sting of guilt within me for worrying.

He didn't come back for almost a month. And at a certain forgotten point in time Anton vanished too. Sabrina refused to talk about why.

In this month I took the daily patrol duties for good practice opportunities for my skills, which fortunately improved by a couple of notches. I found out that when I consumed and assumed the form of living humans I could perceive some of their more significant memories directly in my head, similar to the way Alex accessed mine, though the latter case obviously involved no consumption. I used this skill on some Blackwatch troopers who appeared to be of a higher rank, hoping that their minds will help me find Alex, but no, nothing. None of them remembered seeing Alex anywhere, though if they did I guess they'd have become meat pies already. My usage of the rapier also evolved into movements less…clumsy, and despite its exceeding length I could accurately and swiftly strike my targets without flailing the weapon madly like a Tasmanian devil.

My…proudly enhanced abilities were, sadly not given a chance for critical application until we met Alex again. He didn't come back – Sabrina brought us on a special operation on his behalf. Apparently one of us that infiltrated into the GENTEK research sector had successfully created a cure for the Blacklight virus, and our job was to ensure that the substance, coded WHITELIGHT, was properly distributed to the civilians.

That was, of course, good news to me; an effective counter-virus that would eliminate the pathogen from existence, why on Earth not? And it didn't seem too hard a task. The barrels of Whitelight would be delivered by air, so it'd spread throughout the three zones in no time. And who would be foolish enough to be in the way? Maybe a few Blackwatch fanatics, if they were serious about the weaponization plans. But it shouldn't be much of a problem. The venue was even within the Green Zone where we lived in, so conveniently. Sabrina directed this mission for us, since she was also an informant in GENTEK, and knew its movements the best.

But it wasn't exactly a usual guard task for us.

_It was a freaking battlefield._

The area around the Whitelight stockpile was almost completely engulfed in battle; Blackwatch and the Marine Corps seemed to be largely mobilized, and dozens of transformed people – Alex's men and women – held back the military with a variety of weapons. Amidst the gunfire and the clanging of metallic biomass were barrels – some dented – leaking a luminous crimson plume into the air at an incredulous rate.

With a consensual signal the four of us in the chopper bailed out and landed in the crossfire. Sabrina landed diagonally against the back of a Marine, knocking him down and scraping his body against the tarmac. As usual, I stuck with Nikolai and Yuki, who seemed very much elated to consume and kill squad-fulls of soldiers. In a while, all of Alex's men formed a perimeter around the Whitelight barrels, barring away every single soldier or their vehicles from coming through. A few other men with whips like Yuki or webs of lengthy tendrils stood guard on nearby buildings, grabbing any helicopter attempting to penetrate our formation and hurling them back at the incoming reinforcements.

Everything went well; if Alex was here to see us he would really be plea-_ Poof._

A shadow came and went, and with its departure the Whitelight barrel that sat right behind me was gone. Muffled gasps. Sabrina was particularly distressed, as she spun her head around jumpily, her pupils dilated. "Oh no, not him. Tell me it's not him…"

Another woman beside me brandished her beaming claws, and ran off. "It's him! I'm taking him down!" she screamed zealously as she bolted. Nikolai grabbed my arm. "We'll go help me, Ryutsuri. Yuki, you stay and maintain the formation." And with that, he dragged me into the direction that the shadow went.

From afar I could tell it was one of us, or, at least he used to be. That unmistakable speed, agility, strength, no one could possess that except those enhanced by Alex. He was fast, but not too fast for us to close in, for me to remember his features – Black man, dark biomass jacket with glowing red veins, large figure – but we were too slow to stop him from flinging the Whitelight barrel he carried right into the chamber of a trash incinerator, which shut and digested it, and when the incinerator opened up again, the barrel was no more. The clawed lady before us pounced at the man, her claws wide open in offense. But instead of impaling the man squarely in the chest, the claws were caught dexterously by the hand, and snapped into halves following a dry crack. Drawing his weapon – a large blade resembling a enormous combat knife – he shoved it forth, right into the disarmed woman's abdomen. She writhed, screamed, until her body decayed into fiber and was forcibly consumed into the Black man's body. _Shit._

Nikolai cursed at the loss of our comrade, and before I could stop him backflipped right into the enemy's face, brandishing his shield. Sneering, the man swung his blade at him, but was successfully deflected by the shield. Nikolai took advantage of the brief stun he inflicted, and violently thrashed at his opponent with his spike-populated buckler, knocking him onto the ground. _There. The opportunity._ I decided to seize it, sallying on with the pointed edge of my rapier directed at the enemy's neck. Alas, he was fast – springing up almost instantly – and flogged at my weapon with his own. The terrible impact sent the most chilling of shivers resonating through my body.

The Black man shrugged, and leaped, landing behind Nikolai, his arm no longer a blade but an entanglement of tendrils (a boggling sight, as I used to think Alex was the only capable of wielding multiple weapons) which he freed and launched at Nikolai, the ends of the fleshy tentacles bounding onto his limbs like adhesives. The man heaved, and swung my trapped partner around, slamming him into a wrecked bus. He yanked Nikolai up again, and this time he catapulted him into a pile of snapped scaffolding…

…where the trapped Nikolai was released abruptly, and landed right onto a scaffolding spine, which pierced right into his thorax. He struggled to escape, but his efforts were only mocked at with a sick humor as he sank deeper and deeper into the impalement…

_…and now the enemy's coming to me._

_He's walking to me…._

I raised my weapon, though I didn't really know what I expected; even someone with experience, someone like Nikolai couldn't defeat him, then what was I to do?

_Wham._

A bang and explosion crashed the hostile to the ground; a military rocket launcher was in Nikolai's hands, and a blankness in his eyes. The spine was still in his body but detached from the rest of the scaffolding, and he was upright, walking, agonizingly, slowly, the weapon falling from his hand and his shield in a pitiful ruin of smithereens.

He walked.

And walked, under the mirthlessly amused watched of our enemy.

He stopped.

He panted, drooling blood, a ball of biomass buzzing in his fist. He raised it up, and brought it down. On the floor. Fast.

_Boom._

What happened? I didn't know. There was Nikolai's ripped screaming, there was the rumble of the nearby buildings' collapse, and there was the slimy slurp coupled with the muddled sight of what seemed to be a myriad of tentacles exploding from his waist. The next moment I knew everything below my knees were under the weight of a pillar, everything's burning, just like the last time.

I couldn't see Nikolai. _And was that…_

_…The Black man was over me._ Not a single scratch. He bent down. I tried to draw my weapon, but there was nothing where my hand should've been. _He was going to consume me…_

But he didn't. He put his fingers under the pillar on me, and threw it aside. Then he left. I wanted to get up and strangle him, but there was nothing in me to fuel it.

Someone was carrying me. No fire. My head rested on a lap, a gentle one, in a familiar place, yes, our house… _"Y-Yuki?"_ My face was jammed against her chest, and her fingers once again dug into my wrist, though this time I did not complain._ "Oh, oh god, Ryutsuri, you're alright, I thought he'd finished you off too… Oh, Alex! Alex!"_ I half-shut my eyes, taking the moment to enjoy her company. But wait.

_…too…?_

I sat up. "Yuki, what about Nikolai?" Her eyes went droopy. "Nikolai? We searched the area where you battled with Heller. _We found his leg._"

H-Heller?

Before I could ask her more or mourn over Nikolai, Alex walked in. "Ryutsuri, can we have a talk?" his voice quivered; and immediately I knew something was wrong. The voice of Alex Mercer never quivered. He brought me into a room upstairs and locked the door behind us. We sat down. He even made me a mug of tea.

"Ryutsuri, do you know how it feels, to put so much hope into something, and see it disappear?"

His voice was soft, almost a whisper; if not for the heightened senses the virus gave me I'd have to read his lips. "You know that, boy?" he continued, "You know how much I put into James Heller? So much, and now,_ poof_. It's gone. You saw him, fought him, witnessed him murder so many of our partners in one day, foiling the release of Whitelight entirely… I should have known. He was good material, but his hate for me was too much, too much. I've made mistakes, Ryutsuri, mistakes that put his family in the grave. I shouldn't have trusted him to fight for us…" I was struck, didn't know what to say, so I blurted randomly. "What's our losses today?" I asked for something to say, and sounding very much like a schadenfreude. Alex didn't mind. "Too much, for both me and you," he answered meekly, standing up, "Thank you so much, Ryutsuri. For listening."


	9. Chapter 9 - Another Bloody Lozenge

**Chapter 9**

Alex showed none of that soft, lonely side of him after we left that room; he was back to giving orders, leader-like, but in every instruction he passed down I could sense a certain desperation, to get Heller under his knees and split him into pieces. The daily patrol duties were changed to Heller-hunting duties; units were henceforth forbidden from operating alone, not a problem for me, since I had Yuki sticking up for me. Everyone were to put in their best efforts to locate and neutralize Heller in addition to suppressing the military forces. Nobody objected – nobody would – too many had died in the last battle for that felony to be forgiven; in fact it was speculated that Heller was the reason for Anton Koenig's "disappearance". And for me, maybe it was the death of Nikolai, but more importantly my purpose of avenging Yuna and stopping the infection can never be fulfilled with someone like James Heller sabotaging it.

But searching for a shape-shifting enemy was always easier said than done. Heller could be anywhere, and anyone we might see on the streets. Things got worse when some of us began to disappear as well, one by one, with their mangled remains, if ever, found at random corners of the cities. I could tell that to certain members of our cause, taking Heller down had become but an ambitious, vindictive dream.

I was posted to Oakhurst, a small residential district in the Yellow Zone. Yuki reckoned that since that place was littered with fortified Blackwatch bases, if Heller decided to pop out anywhere we'd be hearing gunfire already. It seemed the last place that a hulking defected superhuman would go to for refuge.

Seemed – the essence of that word was revealed on that search.

It was a strange feeling as the child hobbled past me, what was it? A rush of power, the sensation that provoked the blood in me to boil, just like when I was near Alex and the others. To the virus in me it was probably a call from family, but to me there's more. An inexplicable ember, like hatred, anger, its origins unknown. Unknown until the child was really close, right at my hips, where he paused, and looked up into my eyes. Then the feeling became obvious.

_JAMES HELLER._

I raised my arm for my rapier – heck it if it's just a civilian, heck it if it's just my paranoia. I've gotten loads of civvies in collateral damage before – but before my limb could transform, the child locked his fingers onto my wrist, and jerked me full-speed away. Yuki's fading screams and footsteps were the only sounds that lingered among the dance of wind in my ears. He took me through the streets, down the alleys, and for a while I was certain that he was running up a building. He stopped, and dizziness faded to welcome me into a queer place. It must be one of those dank, unexplored dead-ends to which the world drew a blank.

The child was no more, but that cursed muscular figure hovered over me, his hands holding me down by the shoulder. _James Heller. I can never forget that fuck-face._ He squatted, scrutinizing me until our views met. "Yes, I'd know those eyes," he muttered deeply, "ain't too deluded yet, can still be saved. You fight against your will, no?"

I gritted my teeth and wrenched myself free, very surprised by my success. "Get away from me, you traitor," I spat as firmly as I could muster, "you'll get smoked, by Alex if not by anyone else. Then we can continue with Alex's plans, end the outbreak, destroy those apes that ravaged _her_…" I tried to draw my weapon again, but Heller lifted me by the collar and threw me down hard. Then his slit-like eyes relaxed, as he sat me upright, sighing. He pointed at the wall, where two squirming, incarcerated bodies rested. Both of them threw Heller disgusted glances here and there.

"I don't have to say much to you," he said, as he brought me the first body, "get into their brains."

I looked at the worming figure, his mouth gagged with cotton, then back at Heller, whose face was almost as iron as Alex's. Then, hesitantly, I put my hand to the person's chest, and consumed him. _Images._

**The First Body: Maj. Honnie Chewer**

Major Chewer waited at Pennsylvania Station, as his private scrambled to report. He raised his eyebrows, and the puffing subordinate took the cue. "Kilo Team is back from the search. Still no clue 'bout Mercer." He blinked, and picked up his radio. "Lotus Team, dispatch Honey Badger to Lincoln Meadows and continue the search for the High-Value Target. Find and take that SOB dow-"

_"Major!"_

Chewer turned, facing irritably a panicking Marine, who gesticulated at a figure that stood oddly on the railings. The latter looked shady, the dominant part of his face shrouded under the umbra of his raised hood. His left hand was plugged into his pocket, his right grasping with two fingers a test tube, which was half-filled with a reddish-black liquid that seemed to boil gently. The Marines in the station quickly surrounded him and raised their rifles, but Chewer calmly called them off.

"Dr. Alexander J. Mercer," greeted the Major, "so, just like the last time? You gon' start a massacre again?" The hooded man snorted. "No, sir," he said patronizingly, "I'm starting a cleansing." He opened up his right hand, and the vial of liquid was demolished on the ground. Its contents spilled, and expanded rapidly into a rust-colored fog that invaded the station. Soldiers fired wildly, and the screaming of civilians were soon silenced by the cloud. Blood began to stream from people's pores, and the stench of decaying flesh filled the air. The frantic sprinting of the fleeing commuters soon decomposed into anthropoid-like roaming, their lost voices replaced by hungry growls. Throwing a few rounds about with his sidearm, the Major ordered the Marines to evacuate the station; only a few managed to escape before being infected by the Blacklight virus or eaten by those whom already succumbed to it.

**The Second Body: Dr. Raslette Maricorn**

"Dr. Archer," Maricorn called out to her co-worker, "Bad news. I have run a test on the cure for the Blacklight virus that we've developed, and the results show that it's contaminated with a foreign substance that has been deduced to be the blood of Alex Mercer. This is bad, if the contaminated Whitelight is released on the population tomorrow it'll just spread the virus instead of curing it…"

_"Well, that's quite sad, isn't it?"_ replied Archer apathetically. Maricorn gulped. "What's with that attitude?" she stuttered, "Don't tell me…" A sudden impact, and she was against the wall, pinned down at the neck by a mysteriously fabricated blade, which strangely took the place of Archer's right arm. _"Raslette Maricorn,"_ whispered Archer, _"single mother to three children. Maybe if you'd shut up about what you've seen, your kids won't end up as Alex's lunch…"_

Maricorn's brief nod sealed the deal, and Archer withdrew her weapon, her lips curled into a scowl. "Alex will be pleased," she mocked.


	10. Chapter 10 - Your Maker that Lied

**Chapter 10**

I surfaced from those memories, my mind a lost void. I looked at Heller, something that should be unforgivable welling deep inside. He helped me up, dusting my shirt. "The last time I saw you in that fight I know you can still be saved, boy. You know what to do now." He ruffled my hair, and turned away to leap away across the walls. Leaving me to think, as my capacity to do so returned gradually.

_Alex Mercer started the outbreak._

_Alex Mercer created the infected._

_Alex Mercer's responsible for Yuna's death._

_Alex Mercer told me that the Whitelight was a cure._

_Alex Mercer lied._  
I took a cab back to the house; it'd been a while since I got into a thing like that, but the remote thought of_ touching_ my powers anymore induces within me an urge to puke. I'd only use those powers of the liar once more, and that will be when I cut him down, just like I've promised_ her_. Yuki was at the front door, and when she saw me she came forth and grabbed my arm. "I saw it, Ryutsuri, he…he told you, didn't he? Oh, oh, Alex told me to protect you, to help you wherever possible, b-but this… I know what you're planning, but this…" she was on the verge of tears. I would have been disgusted at the sight of one that works for Mercer, but somehow that feeling wouldn't manifest; not when it's my partner both in the cause, and long ago in school. I touched her hair. "You don't have to, Yuki," I reassured, "don't get yourself involved in this dirty business. I can take care of myself." Gently pushing her aside, I strode into the house. I think I heard her call my name faintly; maybe she didn't.

Alex didn't resist. He just stood still as over and over again I slashed off his limbs, which annoyingly grew back in a matter of seconds. "I am sad, Ryutsuri," he mumbled, "I am very sad." I humphed, and raised my rapier again, this time aiming at his neck_, "Yuna-chan o oshiete."_ _Tell that to Yuna._ I slashed, expecting the man's head to sail neatly off its podium. Ping.

It didn't. My blow was parried, by Sabrina, who appeared out of nowhere. The blade of her scimitar contacted that of my rapier at a perfect angle, and with a swipe she shoved my weapon aside. She stepped forth, so that she was face-to-face with me. "I know what you found out, how you feel, you think we lied to you. But what you don't know that when Alex finishes with our cause, we, you, are the ones that benefit directly. It will be a beautiful world for you, and in doing so you'll get to fulfill your personal revenge too…" _Bullshit._

I stared back at her. "Are you in my way, Sabrina?" I made sure our eyes met, "I want to kill Alex Mercer, woman. Do I have to cut you down as well?" She faltered, backing away. I drew my weapon again and attacked, this time overcoming her riposte and throwing her to the ground. Alex looked up, and dashed, backwards, his speed destroying the wall.

I followed him through the hole he made, through the streets and up the roofs. I sheathed my weapon to maximize my agility, but he was yet too fast – after all he was the best fighter among the evolved humans – and seemed to somersault over hulking obstacles like a smooth grasshopper. I put my legs to a full sprint, but the back of Alex's jacket before me slowly shrunk, faded into a silhouette, and finally vaporized entirely. I stopped and checked the faraway streets for him, but there was no madly running hooded man._ Dammit, he shape-shifted._

My cell phone rang. It was Yuki. "_Come back, Ryutsuri, I've found something under the couch. It's about Alex._"

I met Yuki outside the house; she ran to me, and as she passed it to me I sensed her fingers trembling. It was a piece of paper, scrawled on with blue ink.

_"To: Ryutsuri Kanter and Kyoushin Yuki,_

_In no time I guess Ryutsuri will be hunting me down ferociously and very much eager to tear my throat out. After all the truth cannot be withheld forever, just as paper can never contain fire (at least that's what the Chinese said)._

_I used to be just nobody, about a year and a half ago, a lab grunt doing paperwork at GENTEK; heh, back then people called me DOCTOR Mercer, which was quite interesting. But when Blackwatch got scared of the U.N, and tried to kill me and those scientists at Penn Station, I freaked out and spilled a jar of the Blacklight virus that was supposed to be a bio-weapon. Then came the first outbreak. That was the first mistake I made._

_I had a rather similar goal as you did, Ryutsuri, ending the infection while picking on those Blackwatch bastards. But after they tried to nuke Manhattan I just decided, that humanity had lost, was doomed to die off._

_After that incident I went around the world, to Russia, Africa, so many places. But these trips seemed only to prove my stand – that even the most docile of humans are tainted with sin – and hence I wanted to start in America, my dream of humanity's evolution, the best way of which being the virus. I went back to Penn, and I dropped the glass a second time. That was the second mistake I made._

_I don't want to go onto what I did next, 'cause that'd be repeating what you'd already have known, from who, I might never find out. I've lied to you, Ryutsuri; perhaps I too am lost. I remember that warning Galloway gave me the day I took you in, that I was throwing away what I started off with, and then there was our defeat with Heller; it taught me a lot of things; impossible, eh? How a student might educate a teacher? But I've taught him well, and now he's returning the favor._

_But screw that. None of it's going to make you forgive me, and I don't need your forgiveness. But you want to end the infection, right? I've got an easy way. I've injected myself with a toxin that what's left of us just developed. That toxin, when it enters Heller's body, will cause an biomass rush that will absorb all infected material in the continent. But it's temporary – if left to its own devices Heller will just implode and release the virus again. I need you to defeat him afterwards, Ryutsuri. I know you can do it, boy. Needless to say, I'd have to be consumed by James for the toxin to work, and I will let him, gladly, though I might play with him for a while before that. I'm also destroying our organization, if it ever existed. The remaining members of us, including Sabrina Galloway and myself, will be gone tonight. Cheers. Perhaps it's a chance given to me for repentance._

_I apologize, for lying to you, for casting your life into this turmoil, and also for Yuna's death. Yuki, you make sure Ryutsuri doesn't come looking for me. You two are young , and are deserving of a new life. You can manage. Shit, I wish Nikolai'd be here to see this too. And Ryutsuri, go forth. Visualize. Cut him down, for those that did Yuna harm are part of him now. Good day, and good bye._

_Sincerely,_  
_Alexander J. Mercer"_

I shouldn't but I did. I could never forgive him, but I still felt sad for that bastard. But I should give him his due; he deserves it, and I'd rather chop up all those zombies one by one than let him sacrifice himself for that. Yuki dug her fingers into my wrists. "He told us not to go for him," she said woefully, before brightening up, "but screw his rules."


	11. Chapter 11 - Save Your Maker

**Chapter 11**

Alex mentioned that once Heller consumed him all the infected will be taken into his body, so the Red Zone where the virus was momentarily contained in would be a good place to start the search.

Our military forms were up, and we tamed a Marine truck that was abandoned but quite intact. Yuki suggested that we find Alex by a more socially acceptable method than running up roofs, so here we were. She placed herself in the side seat and armed herself with an assault rifle, just in case things get messed up. I was, of course, the unfortunate driver.

As we cruised along the unilluminated road populated by infected people the military radio came talking. "Attention, infiltrating Marine Corps. personnel vehicle, uh, AMC-2045X, you are trespassing into Blackwatch-occupied territory. About-turn and leave, or we will deploy lethal force. Over." I gripped the steering wheel, and glanced at Yuki. "We should back off, or they'd be chasing us down next."

She chuckled a little. "No, Ryutsuri," she said confidently, "you know Alex. This is exactly the kind of place he'd go to for fun." Well, whatever, her conjecture of that guy's whereabouts seemed much more detailed than mine, so I put a little more strain on the gas and cruised on. The radio woke again. "Foxtrot and Echo, we have an unauthorized vehicle entering our premises. Intercept and neutralize, over." Yuki puffed, readying her rifle.

Sure enough, the electric blue visors of Blackwatch troopers lined up on the streets before us, and each of their weapons flashed as they unloaded bullets on us. Yuki poked her head out and fired, knocking out a few of them before our truck rammed through the rest. Patrolling soldiers along the way opened up as well, but they were swiftly shot down by her. More Blackwatch trucks appeared as we intruded further, and attempted to drive us off the road, but Yuki's surprising marksmanship left each of those vehicles driver-less and skidding into lamp posts.

"Command, command," came a shrill yelp from the radio, "we have located both Alex Mercer and James Heller. Targets are fighting each other on the roof of a house in Sector Delta Charlie. The bulk of our forces are on standby on surrounding buildings. Please advise, over." "Roger, do not engage. Remain to observe," came the reply.

Freeing one of my hands I opened a scribbled-on map under the dashboard, and pinpointed Sector Delta Charlie, not very far from our position. _Wait. Shit._

_"Yuki! Armor!"_ I yelled, as a platoon of tanks and helicopters appeared from the darkness. From afar I could feel their weapons spin and heat, weapons that would rip our truck to shreds in mere seconds. Yuki squeezed from her seat to mine, until she sat on my lap. She locked our arms together, and kicked open the door. "Brace, Ryutsuri," she reminded, and with her free hand she launched her sharp whip which anchored nicely onto the concrete of an office building. The weapon tightened and retracted, taking Yuki and me with it. We swung diagonally like on a trapeze, and crashed clumsily through the windows. Our truck met a slightly more pessimistic fate, as the explosives ejected from the enemy vehicles rendered it a hunk of junk.

We stayed under cover in the building for a while still a little shell shocked from the impact. _No, we shouldn't be. Alex._ I sprung up, and dragged Yuki along. _We're not far from them, we can get there by roof._ So up the stairs we went until we burst through onto the top of the building, and at a distance, helicopter spotlights converged and illumined the arena where they battled…

…_no, there's no battle, for the battle had already ended._

Alex was on his knees, his arms a pair of hemorrhaging stumps. Sabrina and the other evolved ones were not there. He looked up, as Heller pinched him by his collar and held him up. The latter transformed his arm into a claw, and swung. And swung, and swung…

I wanted to leap down, rush there and put a hole in Heller's head, but Yuki grabbed me. "He's lost," she whispered, "his arms aren't healing, they've taken too much damage. He's lost." Down there, Heller continued to attack, Alex kneeling, remaining still as bits of his body dissolved into his enemy's body. Little by little, he rotted, into a cloudy black swarm of biomass, and injected itself into Heller's chest, provoking a beast-like roar that sung of that presumably tsunami of energy. But it didn't end. Heller clutched himself, spasming, and with a blast, thousands of tendrils exploded from his waist, running through the streets, impaling every single zombie that roamed the roads. _"Take cover!"_ I was held down by Yuki, as the tendrils missed us by a hair. Finally, that barrage retreated, and as we got up all we saw was Heller patting his chest, and walking off. _He doesn't know…_

I freed my legs and tried to get to him, to cut him down, but Yuki stopped me again. "Alex hid his daughter in a safe place, safe from that massive attack. James now knows where that is, let him save her." I protested, but she lowered me softly onto her lap, and put her palm on my face. She caressed my forehead, slid down, and closed my eyes._ "Sleep."_

Darkness.


	12. Chapter 12 - She that Haunts

**Chapter 12**

_"Ne, Ryuu-chan, if monsters want to eat me, will you fight for me?"_

It felt like a travesty – a dream, but so real – I touched her face. "_Y-Yuna-chan?_"

She tugged at my shirt, _"Answer me, Ryuu-chan!"_

_"Answer me!"_

_"Save me!"_

_"Where were you, Ryuu-chan?"_

_"It's painful…"_


	13. Chapter 13 - Finals Exam

**Chapter 13**

I woke up in Yuki's lap, my mind a little less turbulent than before. Was she in that posture for the whole night? She helped me up, silent. "So," I sighed, "time to hunt Heller down. You with me?" Silence. I resigned, "Oh well, since you think you can't…" And I made to leave. Death grip on my arm. Yuki's eyes were colorless, her face pale. "You can't," she said.

I turned and ruffled her hair. "Alex had faith in me, he wants me to do it…"

"You don't even know where he is, do you?"

"Well, I could find him, I've always been lucky with that, like the last time-"

"You won't be."

She released her grip, bringing her hands down to mine, lifting them, and she placed them on her chest. "You need to be faster, stronger, Ryutsuri," she looked up, a flicker returning to her pupils, "Please, use me." Something was flowing into me. _No, never_. I tried to withdraw my hand, but she kept it there. The surge heightened, and where I touched was fading into a decayed black. She smiled, "You have to, or you'll end up like Alex before you even get there." She brought my other hand onto her cheek, which degenerated into biomass as well. "No, Yuki," I objected, "that's not the way, you can't just…" "Use my energy, my body, my powers, Ryutsuri," she purred, as her figure began to melt, "kill Heller." I yanked my hand, but it was futile. Her smile and grip remained until her entire being was almost disfigured. "Seriously, Ryutsuri, are you evolved or not…"

_Gone._

_Y-Yuki…_

A blast of light. _Heller's there, I know it_. How, I don't know, but something down there told me where he was. It was like sonar. And in that instant everything of the vanished Yuki in me that broke me down was kindled into a running fire._ I will cut him._

My instincts were right, and I caught him unexpected, my first blow creating a rivery gash on his back. "Kanter," he said, as he drew his blade, "I thought I gave you a chance." He slashed, and I dodged; my body burned within, and I knew that I was faster, stronger, and I fly higher than Heller. I attacked, barely blocked by him, and sliding past I attempted a killing cut to the neck. Heller spun, his arms enlarged into shields, countered, and with two swift bashes I was on the ground. _Fuck._

He was over me, just like previously, his blade returning and stabbed into my body. "Tsk, tsk, Kanter," he mooed, "I saved you. You didn't save yourself." He blinked, and there was a feeling, a hollowness, the feeling that something was leaving me. I lowered my eyes onto his blade, where threads of biomass slithered up and into his body. _So that's how it feels? To be consumed?_ Heller shook his head as my world began to dim. _"Fool."_

_But suddenly, an ember._ My left hand tingled, and something fought to escape. I let it._ Swish._ Heller grunted – it was in his body – the pointed edge of a whip, just like Yuki's but connected to my left arm and glowed gold. Heller grabbed it and tried to pull it out, but to no avail. The bits of myself that entered his body now came back to me, relinquishing my vigor. "That's from Yuki, asshole," I coughed, kicking Heller away. I jerked the whip away from him, and swung it at him again. He deflected it, but the weapon was flexible and it caved away, causing him to stumble and formed an opening in his defenses, where I plunged my rapier deep into his stomach. "That's from Alex," I added, and threw him aside. And with a slash from the whip, Heller's legs were separated from his body. "And this," I finished, as I jabbed both weapons into his back, "comes from Harumae Yuna-chan." A flick sent the faintly trembling body up, and a longitudinal pull towards both directions ripped it into two. I retracted the whip and launched it again, impaling both portions, and converted them into biomass that I eagerly consumed into my blood.

My legs were jelly as I stared at the red-stained area that my enemy used to stand. _I did it. I cut him down. I cut down every single one of those fuckers that did her harm. I did it._ I laughed, a lot, and threw myself down spreadeagled. In no time the adrenalin waned, and when I was far too tired to laugh any more, I fell asleep.


	14. Epilogue - Graduation

**Epilogue**

It was a pretty dream, a pretty road. Are those people? I walked. Yuki and Nikolai gave me high-fives, Sabrina waved, and Anton Koenig laughed heartily, dropping his files like a klutz. And then there was Alex. He patted my shoulder, his eyes still hidden by his hood and his face rigid. "Not bad," he said callously, "for a newbie." Then he smiled.

But the road had an even prettier end, someone waiting for me. "_Ne, Ryuu-chan._" I took her hand, and looked back at the pretty road. I thought I had the right to say it safely, so I said it. "I did it, Yuna, I cut them down." She grinned. "_Yes, Ryuu-chan, you did it._" She came close, till I could feel her breath cleansing my mind. Her hand was on my face and mine on hers, our eyes closed. _Perhaps, this is the end._

In the world awake I got myself back in school; there was one whose principal sympathized me for being the sole survivor of the Lincoln Meadows High School. The house where lived with Yuki and Nikolai was considered abandoned; it had no owner, and nobody bothered to buy it. People're still fearful of Alex Mercer, and the rumors of Alex Mercer living in that house was deterrent enough to nosy neighbors. Well, that's good, in a way. At least for now I could stay there, and keep things the way they were.

Gently I opened Alex's note once more, the one that I've endeavored to preserve well. In a sense, I knew that man well, and in another I didn't. For the leader of a virtually non-existent group he was really young – seemed no older than thirty – when some of his subordinates, or as he fancied to call "students" have begun to bear a silver top. He was elusive, his tone often coldly dismissive, and yet, for a very obvious reason, I felt really close to him.

_After all, he saved my life._

_After all, he is my teacher._


End file.
